A Novel Soft Glove Utilizing Honeycomb Pneumatic Actuators (HPAs) for Assisting Activities of Daily Living

Fabric-based pneumatic actuators (FPAs) are extensively employed in the design of lightweight and compliant soft wearable assistive gloves. However, conventional FPAs typically exhibit limited output force, thereby restricting the applications of such gloves. This paper presents the development of a novel honeycomb pneumatic actuator (HPA) constructed using flexible thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) coating through hot pressing or ultrasonic welding techniques. Compared to the previously utilized double-layer fabric-based pneumatic actuators (DLFPAs), the HPAs yields a remarkable 862% increase in end output force. It can produce a tip force of 13.57 N at a pressure of 150 kPa. The integration of HPAs onto a soft pneumatic glove enables the facilitation of various activities of daily living. A series of trials involving nine patients were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the soft glove. The experimental results indicate that when assisted by the glove, the patients’ finger metacarpophalangeal (MCP) and proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints achieved angles of 87.67 ± 19.27° and 64.2 ± 30.66°, respectively. Additionally, the average fingertip force reached 10.16 ± 4.24 N, the average grip force reached 26.04 ± 15.08 N, and the completion rate of daily functions for the patients increased from 39% to 76%. These outcomes demonstrate that the soft glove effectively aids in finger movements and significantly enhances the patients’ daily functioning.